Not long after her cousin’s discovery, Maria came down with a sore throat and visited a nearby medical clinic. While in the waiting room she noticed a brochure, “What you need to Know about Skin Cancer,” published by the national Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health. She took the brochure home to read and was surprised to learn that almost half of all mature adults are likely to have had skin cancer. She had thought cancers were pretty rare, except among the elderly. At least Maria felt confident now that she knew how to spot skin cancer herself and what to do to avoid it. And for a time that was all she wanted to know about cancers.